Maharashtra: Sunetra Pawar gives instructions to review drought in Beed, speed up relief!

Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Guardian Minister of Beed district, Sunetra Pawar reviewed the serious drought situation arising due to long gap of rain in the district and the measures being taken by the administration at the District Magistrate's office on Saturday. During this, he instructed the administration to take immediate effective steps to deal with the drought.

In this meeting, MLA Prakash Solunke, MLA Dhananjay Munde, District Magistrate Vivek Johnson, District Council Chief Executive Officer Jitin Rehman, Superintendent of Police Navneet Kavat, Sub-District Magistrate Shivkumar Swami and senior officials of various departments were present.

In the meeting, the drought situation in the district was discussed in detail and necessary instructions were given to the administration to provide immediate relief to the affected citizens.

Due to lack of rain, farmers' crops have dried up. Along with this, a serious problem of drinking water and animal fodder has arisen. In view of this situation, the Deputy Chief Minister directed to complete the panchnama of crop loss as soon as possible. Most of the Panchnamas are in a state of completion.

As soon as the report was received, it was asked to expedite further action as per rules. Also, instructions were given to the officials of Agriculture and Revenue Department to maintain complete transparency and accuracy in the crop insurance process.

Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar appealed to the citizens to avoid unnecessary expenditure in view of the drought and water shortage. He said that people should reduce the expenditure on events like weddings and birthdays and give priority to organizing mass marriage ceremonies.

Availability of drinking water in the district has been given top priority. At present water is being supplied through 225 tankers in the district. The Deputy Chief Minister directed to monitor the movement of these tankers and distribution of water through GPS system.

He clarified that potable water should not be used for construction works under any circumstances. Water should be used with utmost care and economy. Apart from this, instructions were also given to immediately start water conservation works like recharging water sources, deepening rivers and drains, removing silt and repairing wells.

The administration was asked to prepare a plan immediately to deal with the problem of animal fodder. In the meeting, emphasis was also laid on providing training to farmers in silage i.e. preserved green fodder, hydroponics technology and Azolla fodder production.

Along with this, instructions were given to effectively implement the employment guarantee works under VB-G Ramji Scheme by linking them with water conservation. Its objective is to provide employment to the farmers and laborers of rural areas at the local level, so that they do not have to migrate for employment.

In view of the seriousness of the drought, officers and employees of all departments were instructed to be present at their respective headquarters and provide all possible help to the needy citizens. The Deputy Chief Minister also asked the officials to increase communication with the farmers, listen to their problems, counsel them and provide them mental support.

It was emphasized in the meeting that all departments should work in coordination on important issues like drinking water, animal fodder and employment generation so that the affected people can get relief as soon as possible.

Sunetra Pawar said that amidst the growing crisis of drought, the state government and administration are standing firmly with the citizens and all necessary measures are being taken on war footing. He said that the state government is making efforts at every level to bring the farmers out of this natural crisis safely and to provide them immediate relief. The administration is working with full capacity.